Into Dark Times
by Hannah554
Summary: A virus wipes out the majority of the world's population and those that are left must fight for survival but with all the odds against them survival might not be possible. Flack/Angell, Danny/Lindsay, a little Mac/Stella. Written for apocabigbang.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: This was written for apocabigbang over on LJ, there's an awesome fanmix by zeldaophelia over there too, the link to my journal is on my profile page. I had planned to post this here earlier but RL in the form of college assignments got in the way. Since this is already written all the way through, I plan to update this every couple of days. Let me know what you guys think!**

* * *

_**Into Dark Times**_

_**Chapter 1**_

It had been quick, quicker than anyone had expected, there'd just been no time to stop it. It started on a small island in the Caribbean, a teenager had turned up dead at a local hospital and no one could figure out the cause of death. A day and a half later someone else turned up with exactly the same symptoms and by day four they had over a dozen patients. The CDC had been quick to respond, teams were sent in to control and contain the situation, less than an hour later the island had been quarantined. Flights were stopped, no boats were allowed to leave or go anywhere near the island but it wasn't enough and by the end of the week they had potential cases in America, Europe and Australia. It was clear by the end of the weekend that they had a global outbreak on their hands.

The media had caught on right about there and before any official statements could be given the press had already caused panic. The CDC held an emergency press conference to give more real information and they'd used comforting phrases like 'working on an antivirus' and 'seems to be contained'. It hadn't been long before people had realised there was nothing 'contained' about the virus.

The number of cases increased, the death toll rose dramatically and hospitals were overwhelmed. Schools were closed, public gatherings were cancelled, stores stopped opening and people were afraid to leave their homes. Information coming through the media became more and more bleak, people panicked. By the end of week two every cheesy apocalyptic movie suddenly seemed far more realistic. Anarchy broke out, looting, fires, fights, the police tried to maintain control but law and order was quickly shot to hell. Cops fell victim to the virus or the fighting on the streets and as their numbers dwindled they were told to go home to their families.

A few days later it was all over.

* * *

The street was lined with smashed windows and doors that had been boarded up. There were still a few cars left, sitting where their owners had left them months ago. Everything was quiet, as usual, and it made his footsteps seem all that much louder. Mac watched the buildings warily, his eyes darting from window to door to alley, watching for any sign of movement, he wasn't fooled by the quiet; it cost lives when he was. A woman came out of the door beside him, the back of her curly hair the first thing he saw as she too looked around her warily.

"There's not much left here," she stated as she finally looked at him.

"I'm not surprised Stella, it's getting harder to find anything, what did we get?" Mac asked her and she glanced back into the small convenience store.

"A couple of bottles of water, some rice, some tinned food, batteries, not a lot. Jess is still checking the back of the store and Danny's bagging everything from the front but I'm not expecting we'll find much more, someone was definitely here before us," she stated and Mac sighed. It had taken them over half an hour to find this place, he had no idea how long it would take to find another and he hated being out here longer than necessary, hated any of his team being out here longer than they had to be.

"Let's just get what we can and take it back to the apartment, we'll have to come back out here tomorrow," Mac told her, his mind already working through plans in his head. She nodded and went back into the store and Mac returned his full attention to the street. It was a few minutes before Stella came back out, Danny behind her with two heavy looking bags that he dropped on the floor and went back in. He returned a moment later with two more heavy bags and Jess carrying a third.

"I found a few things out back, not sure how much of it's useful but since we're not carrying much else I figured I'd might as well bring it along," Jess stated as Mac picked up the two bags Danny had dumped on the ground before and carried them to the car. All the bags were put in the trunk and everyone got in the car. Mac glanced behind him, the distinct feeling he was being watched making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He couldn't see anything though, no sign of movement and there was no sound. He got in the car quickly, the faster they got out of there and back to the safety of the apartment the better. Stella gave him a curious look from the passenger seat and a glance in the mirror told him Danny and Jess had the same feeling he had because both of them were looking through the back window.

He started the car and drove them away from the store, away from whoever was watching them. The streets of New York were quiet, and still, the city that never sleeps had become a ghost town, void of life and activity. Everywhere it was the same, smashed windows, glass littered streets, broken down doors and worst of all... bodies. Bodies that had never been moved, people that were still laid in the place they'd died. Thankfully most were out of sight, in homes, hospitals or the triage areas that had been set up throughout the city. There were still some in the streets though, some sitting in the cars, others curled up in doorways or beneath blankets at the side of the road. It took them twenty minutes to get back to the apartment, parking the car down the street so as not to give away which building they were in to anyone who might be interested. They took the bags from the car and walked quietly along the path, all eyes on their surroundings as they finally made it to the apartment door. Stella unlocked it with her key and let everyone else in before ensuring it closed and locked behind her.

The four of them made their way up the stairs and Mac glanced at the security camera they'd installed there a few months ago when there'd been a concern about someone having been in the building. They were greeted on the third floor by Hawkes who took a couple of the bags and helped them take everything up to the fourth and final floor and to the first door along the corridor. There was music playing quietly inside, coming from Adam's mp3 which he had hooked up to a small speaker system. Adam himself was sat with Sid at the screens where the footage from the four security camera's they'd set up was displayed.

"So how much did you guys get?" Adam questioned as he turned around in the chair. Adam had been a God-send over the months since the virus. His technical skills had saved them a few times and it was him who had rigged up the security camera system using batteries since there was no electricity anymore. He'd also set up a motion detector near the entrance and an alarm system, it was all pretty rudimentary but it worked and one day it might be what saved them.

"Not a lot," Danny stated as he dumped his bags on the couch nearby and started routing through them. He pulled out a large plastic bag and put it on the coffee table. "Batteries."

"Yes," Adam exclaimed as he jumped up and grabbed the bag. "I was really starting to run low on these."

"We know," Danny replied as he took more stuff out of the bag and laid it out on the coffee table. Jess was emptying another bag, taking out various gadgets that Mac figured she'd got for Adam; the man could work wonders if given the chance.

"So can I stop rationing or is that too much to hope for?" Don questioned as he walked into the room with Lindsay. He walked over to Jess and kissed her before helping to unpack some things from the bags. Lindsay walked over to Danny and hugged him, probably relieved to have him and everyone else back in one piece.

"Alright, leave one bag of food here and everything else needs to be taken down to storage," Danny stated as he stood up straight and Mac grabbed one of the bags, following Don and Danny down the hallway to the apartment they'd used for storing any supplies they brought back. He unlocked it and walked inside, noticing how much emptier it was now than it had been six months ago. There were still a few containers of fuel for the cars, a whole pile of bottles of water but with ten of them sharing they probably only had enough there for a week, there were plenty of boxes of food but that still wouldn't be enough to last them more than the next couple of weeks at the most and that was rationing it. None of them were getting enough food at the moment and it was going to start having an impact if they didn't boost their supplies.

"You guys need any help," a voice from the doorway asked and Mac turned to see Jerome standing there with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He'd been one of the lab techs at the crime lab, relatively new to the place when the virus had hit and he'd stuck with Mac and the team afterward. There had been four other lab techs that survived too but one two of them had left a month after the virus and two had been killed since then, they were the reason Mac refused to ever let his guard down outside the apartment again, even inside sometimes. They didn't know why so many of them had survived the virus, only one percent of the world's population was immune and somehow all his team, Don, Jess and several of the lab techs had been in that number. He knew there had to be an explanation but he had more important things to worry about than finding out what that was, like surviving.

"Yeah sure, you can help sort this food out into the boxes," Don stated and the young lab tech nodded and moved across the room to help. Mac looked around him, even with what they had gathered today they still didn't have much, they were definitely going to have to go out again tomorrow.

* * *

Don leaned back in the chair and rubbed at his eyes, he was tired, he'd been up early that morning and hadn't been able to get back to sleep and tonight promised to be another difficult night with so many of them going out tomorrow. They didn't have much of a choice though, supplies were really starting to dwindle now and unless that wanted to run out soon they needed to go out there and find a better source than they had been recently. It had been almost seven months since the virus now and they weren't the only survivors in New York City, there were plenty of others, a lot of them working in gangs and a lot of the usual places had already been raided for supplies.

"I spoke to Hawkes and Sid earlier too," Stella said as she, Don and Mac sat in Mac's apartment discussing the plan for tomorrow. It was getting late and everyone else had gone back to their apartments to get some sleep for the day. Mac had used his apartment as the base of operations for them, the security feeds, the control for the alarm, all came in here, it seemed even with their jobs as cops over with he still held himself responsible for everyone's safety. "We're going to need to go the hospital at some point this week too, we're running really low on medical supplies and we've been putting it off in favour of getting food and water but there are some things that we really need. He used up a lot of what we had on Teresa last month."

Mac nodded and Don was forced to remember the night Hawkes has used those supplies, everyone's desperation to save Teresa, their efforts had failed in the end and the lab tech had died in the early hours of the morning. It was a none too subtle reminder for them all that just because the population of the city had decreased dramatically didn't make it any safer than it had been before; in fact, it was even more dangerous now. Disaster like this brought out both the worst and the best in people and for them, they'd seen far too much of the worst and very little of the best.

"Alright, it's Wednesday tomorrow and we'll head out for the food and water supplies, we'll stay here on the Thursday, keep our heads down and give everyone a break and then Friday we'll go down to the hospital and see what we can find," Mac decided and both Don and Stella nodded their agreement with the plan. "As for tomorrow, we'll split up, go in separate directions. The three of us plus Hawkes will go west, Jess, Lindsay, Danny and Jerome will go east, hopefully one or even both of the groups will find something."

"Mac..." Don began ready with a protest but Mac cut him off.

"I know you want to go with Jess but we can barely get Jerome out of his apartment and the only people that are likely to get him out are Jess and Lindsay, he gets along with the two of them better than the rest of us. That leaves one spot on their team and it's a choice between having this argument with you or having it with Danny and honestly, I'd have to spend all night talking Danny around," Mac explained and after a moment Don nodded his head. He didn't like it, Mac knew he didn't like and Jess would know as well but Mac was right, this was the best way to split the teams.

"Alright, we should all get some sleep," Stella stated. "If we leave early in the morning we're less likely to be spotted."

"No one leaves before dawn," Mac reminded them and once again they both nodded their heads as they got up to leave. They said goodnight to Mac and left, Stella's apartment was right next to Mac's so he said goodnight to Stella and went down the hall to his own apartment. After the virus, when they'd realised what their lives would be like they'd all moved into Mac's apartment building, he'd been the only survivor there, at least as far as they knew. They'd all claimed apartments on the top floor and the rest of the building had been cleared out, they'd taken away the bodies, which had been the hardest part of the whole thing and went through every apartment for supplies, locking each one up behind them. The doors had only been opened once since and that was a few months ago when they suspected someone else had been in the building, they'd swept every room on every floor but they'd never found anything and it all been locked up again.

He walked into the apartment and was met by the usual quiet, slightly cluttered apartment that had never been able to feel like home even in all the months he'd been living there. They'd all been able to bring a few things from their own apartments when they'd come here and there were a few photos lying around, a couple of home movies he'd managed to find and save, some of his clothes and other things that were important to him. They were all reminders of a life that was long gone, of people he cared about that were gone now and it was all he had left them of them. Jess's things were mixed in there too, most notably a family picture taken a couple of years before she joined homicide of her, her parents and her brothers, all gone now too mostly likely and if any of them were alive there was probably no way to find them. Don didn't dwell on it, he counted himself lucky that at the very least Jess had survived, that he still had her because he didn't think he would be able to stand this insane world they'd all been thrown into if he didn't have her. Others hadn't been so lucky, Sid had lost Alice, had held her as the virus claimed her as yet another of its victims.

He double checked the door behind him was locked and headed through to the bedroom, Jess was already asleep and he changed into his sweat pants and an old shirt, climbing into the bed beside her. She only partly woke up as he wrapped his arms around her from behind, pulling her back against his chest tightly and half burying his face in her hair.

"Everything okay?" she mumbled tiredly.

"Yeah," he told her holding her tighter. "Go back to sleep."

* * *

The sun was barely in the sky yet; it cast an orange glow over the quiet city and gave it an even eerier feel than it already had. The team were gathered outside the apartment building, taking care of the last minute details before they left. Danny loaded the bag with their bottles of water and snacks in it into the jeep he'd brought to the front of the apartment building that morning. Jerome and Lindsay were talking to Mac, Jess was with Don who didn't seem to want to let go of her hand until he absolutely had to. Danny couldn't blame him either, if he'd been sent separate from Lindsay he wouldn't have been happy about it either and even though he knew Mac would have had his reasons he wasn't sure he would have allowed himself to be separated from her, not when they were going to be out of the apartment for possibly the entire day.

"Alright," Mac called for everyone's attention. "Everybody is back here by nightfall, I don't want anybody still out here after dark, I don't care if you find the Holy Grail out there, you're back here before it gets dark."

"We got it Mac," Danny told him.

"I know you know all of this but I have to say it anyway," Mac stated. "Everybody stays together, don't wonder off from your group, watch out for each other and don't let your guard down. Keep your guns with you and get back in one piece."

Danny got in the car then, Jerome taking the passenger seat while Lindsay climbed into the back and Danny waited patiently for Jess. Don kissed her and reluctantly let her go and Danny had to give his credit for that because he wouldn't have been so graceful about it had it been him and Lindsay. Jess climbed into the back of the jeep with Lindsay and Danny started the car, driving them in the opposite direction to the others and giving Adam and Sid a wave. The two of them were staying at the apartment to keep eye on it; they never left the apartment unattended.

They drove for a few hours, talking quietly amongst themselves and watching their surroundings both for any sign of a threat and for any potential sources of supplies. They passed a lot of the small stores they'd already used or knew had been raided already, they went passed a large supermarket that they'd checked out two months ago and another they'd checked out before that. They drove passed Stella's old apartment building and Danny was suddenly very glad they'd all moved into Macs because every window there was smashed, there was a body hanging through one of them and it looked like part of the building had been on fire at some point too. It hadn't been like that all those months ago when Danny and Mac had come here with her to help her get some of her things together.

"There," Jerome stated pointing to their right and Danny could see the relatively intact looking supermarket. There was a dead body in the car park but he looked like a victim of the virus rather than anything else, there was no blood around and no noise, not that no noise meant anything anymore.

"Alright let's take a look, everybody keep your eyes open," Danny stated as he moved the car again, taking it very slowly and quietly into the car park and coming to a stop in front of the store. He didn't move and nobody spoke for a while, all of them listening and watching carefully for any sign of a threat but not finding one. "Let's check inside, stay together."

Danny got out of the car, helping first Lindsay and then Jess climb out of the back and then jump down while Jerome got out the other side. The four of them headed into the building, guns in hand as they walked through the door like they were entering a suspect's home. There didn't seem to be anyone around, they walked across one end of the store, looking down each of the aisles to check for anyone who might have hiding.

"Looks clear," Lindsay stated and Danny nodded, lowering his weapon but not holstering it just yet. The smell in there was terrible, there were a couple of bodies around and food that gone bad months ago but hopefully there'd be some useful supplies as well.

"Take a look around, see what you can find but nobody go too far," he told them and they all nodded splitting themselves up between the aisles. Danny was pleasantly surprised to find some of the things they needed. "Looks like we found what we were looking for, we might be home in time for lunch," Danny stated.

"Hate to burst your bubble Danny but it's already almost lunch time, we're going to be here for a while yet, should be back in time for dinner though," Lindsay's voice floated back to him from the next aisle. "I can't believe no-one's found this place before."

"They have," Jess called back. "I got a body with a gunshot wound here, a lot of food knocked over and lot of it looks to be missing," Jess stated and Danny looked around him instinctively, checking for any sign of a threat.

"Why kill someone for the food here, there's plenty of it and they didn't even take that much, there was easily enough for both?" Jerome questioned as he rounded the corner. "There's a whole aisle full of tinned food that way by the way and as you'd expect the water here is useless."

"Well the food is a start," Danny stated. "I don't want to be here longer than we have to, especially is someone else already knows about this place, let's just get what we can in the car and get going."

"Sounds good to me," Lindsay stated and the next thing he heard was a shopping cart moving in his direction and he turned to see Jess manoeuvring two carts down the aisle toward them.

"These should make that go quicker," she said releasing one for Danny to take and leaving again with the other one. "I'm off to get the pasta."

"What is it with her and pasta?" Danny questioned.

"It's her favourite food," Lindsay stated as she walked up to him with her arms full of jars and dumped the whole lot in the cart. "I'm going to find me one of those."

They gathered up what they could as quickly as they could, filling three shopping carts with any food that hadn't spoiled and started taking it out to the car. Jess and Danny started loading everything in while Lindsay went back with Jerome to find some toiletries and any other last minute things that came to mind. They didn't have enough room in the trunk so Danny was about to suggest they put some of it on the floor in front of the seats, it would make for an uncomfortable trip back but it would mean more supplies. He didn't get the chance though, he caught sight of moment behind one of the parked cars and dropped the box of tins in his hand reaching for his gun and quickly getting Jess's attention. She drew her own weapon pointing it in the same direction he had, trying to see what Danny had. Everything happened quickly then, men began appearing from all over the place, stepping out from between the cars and from behind the building and Danny quickly came to the conclusion that they were outnumbered, there were ten of them at least and only Jess and Danny out here, Lindsay and Jerome were still inside.

"Drop the weapons," one of them men stated, stepping forward from the rest of his gang, his own gun aimed at them. "I think you can see you're out numbered, so the drop them or we'll kill you both."

"Not before we take out a couple of you," Danny replied and the man just laughed at him.

"Doesn't matter, minus two of us or not we'll still get what we want," the leader told him. "Now drop the weapons or we'll kill you both right now," he continued and neither Danny nor Jess moved which the man took as a lack of co-operation and ordered his friends to kill them.

"Alright fine, we don't want any trouble," Danny tried to reason lowering his weapon and dropping it to floor, Jess doing the same. "We just came for some supplies."

"Well these are our supplies," the man stated. "And no one steals from us."

"Fine," Danny stated, hoping to talk their way out of this and knowing already that it probably wouldn't work, it never did. "Then we won't take anything, we'll just go."

"It's not that simple, you have something else we want," the man told him turning to rest of his men. "Take the girl."

Danny and Jess both tried to reach for their guns at the same time but neither were fast enough, two of the men had hold of Jess before either of them could get close enough to the ground to get their weapons. Two shots were fired at Danny both narrowly missing him and Jess tried to fight off the men that had grabbed her but was slowly being dragged away from him. Danny tried to reach her only to be cut off by more gun fire. Suddenly the two men holding onto Jess were hit square in the chest and Danny saw Lindsay by the entrance to the store, gun in hand. Jerome came running out behind her, with his own gun and Danny took advantage of the distraction to pick up both his and Jess's weapons, using both to fire at their attackers.

He heard Lindsay shout Jerome's name and turned in time to see the man hit the floor and Lindsay try to make her way over to him through the bullets that were being sent their way. He kept his concentration on the fire fight, glancing occasionally at Jess who was slowly making her way back to Danny using a couple of cars as cover. She was almost back to him when one of the men grabbed her from behind. Everything went from moving too fast to moving in slow motion, Jess tried to get loose from the man that grabbed her and Danny turned his gun in that direction. Again, he wasn't fast enough and before he could get a shot off the man had slid a knife into Jess side. Danny shot him and ran over to her, hearing the sound of gun fire dying away and several cars speeding off as the gang realised their numbers had been cut in half.

"Jess," he called out to her as he ran to her side, she wasn't moving. He dropped to his knees next to her and turned her onto her back, she was still conscious, clutching at the wound by her side, trying and failing to stop the loss of blood.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note: I know, bad me, leave you on an evil cliffhanger and then take days to update when I said I wouldn't. Sorry. The next chapter is here though and thank you to everyone who read the first chapter and even more to those who reviewed, you guys are all so awesome so special thanks to; CSIRanvir, afrozenheart412, CSI4lyfNCIS13, Brinchen86, justme667, lily moonlight, HSMSupernatural and Runner043 for your reviews. **

Chapter 2

"Help me get her into the car," Danny yelled picking Jess up from the floor, hoping he wasn't making her wound any worse but he couldn't just leave her on ground, he had to get her back to the apartment, to Hawkes and Sid. Lindsay opened the back of the car, stepping aside so Danny could put Jess on the back seat. He stepped back and glanced over at Jerome's unmoving form.

"He didn't make it," Lindsay told him sadly and Danny nodded. There was no time to dwell on it, they had to get Jess back or they'd lose two people today. Lindsay quickly climbed in the back with Jess, pressing a hand over the wound in her side and Danny ran around to the driver's side, getting in and speeding away from the supermarket. He could hear Lindsay talking to Jess in the back, trying to keep her awake by asking her questions. He raced through the streets, it had taken a long time to get here but they'd been going slow and driving all over the place, a straight line back to the apartment as fast as they could, it shouldn't take them long to get there.

"How's she doing?" Danny questioned.

"Not good," Lindsay replied. "Jess, come on, you gotta stay with me."

"Ask her about Don," Danny suggested, he was pretty sure if it was him lying there the only thing that might keep him awake when all else failed was Lindsay. He could hear her asking what they had planned, as though they weren't living in a post apocalyptic world where the majority of the population was dead and the survivors would happily kill each other for a bottle of water.

"Jess, no, come on, open your eyes," Lindsay's voice was getting more urgent. "You gotta keep your eyes open," she continued to push but it didn't seem to be working. He glanced behind him, Lindsay was leaning over Jess so he couldn't see her but from the sound of Lindsay's voice they were losing her fast. "Jess," she shouted. "Jess. Danny, get us there faster," Lindsay continued to shout, panic in her voice now.

"I'm going as fast as I can," he shouted back as he dodged and weaved his way through the cars that were parked all over the streets.

"Well, go faster," Lindsay told him like it would somehow help. "Jess, come on, wake up."

The apartment was up ahead now; he could make out the figures of people moving around and figured the other team were back as well, probably moving supplies into the apartment. His car screeching down the street obviously got their attention and he figured by now they could probably hear Lindsay yelling in the background. He slammed on the breaks, hearing Lindsay protest as she was thrown into the back of his chair, trying to keep Jess still at the same time. He didn't have time to apologise, he jumped out of the car, yelling for Hawkes as he opened the back door and helped Lindsay to get Jess out.

"What happened?" Mac questioned and Danny saw Don step out of the apartment, his face going pale when he saw Jess being carried away from the car, unconscious and bleeding.

"We were attacked, Jerome's dead, Jess was stabbed," he summed up knowing it would be enough for now but Mac would want more details later, when Jess was out of danger.

"Let's get her upstairs, quickly," Hawkes ordered, checking the wound in Jess's side as they moved through the door and up the stairs. It seemed like forever before they made it to the apartment, the commotion getting Sid's and Adam's attention as Hawkes told him to put Jess down on the table. Sid was already running out of the room and down to storage to get the medical supplies, dragging Adam and Stella along with him. Hawkes pushed Danny back, his attention entirely focused on Jess.

"Hawkes?" Don questioned, fear in his voice as he watched the former doctor move quickly around Jess. Mac put a hand on his shoulder supportively as Sid pushed passed them, dropping supplies onto the table and helping Hawkes. Danny felt helpless, stood by, unable to do anything but watch and he could only imagine how Don felt.

* * *

Jess was still unconscious, Hawkes and Sid had worked tirelessly on her and she was stable, at least for now. They'd managed to stop the bleeding with the supplies that they had but they'd already been running low. Mac's plan to take care of the food and water supplies first, then the medical supplies suddenly didn't seem so good. The two doctors didn't have everything they needed to help Jess, until they did, they wouldn't be able to finish treating her. Don sat on the chair by the table, holding Jess's hand tightly in his own, his eyes going over every inch of her face, her body, the bloody clothes, the blood stained bandage over her side. He should never have split up from her, he should have been with her, he should have been there to protect her.

"We need the antibiotics too, as well as the painkillers, we have a small supply of them but it's not nearly enough," Hawkes was telling everyone. They were all gathered on the couches nearby, the ones that had become their meeting place since the virus. He listened into their conversation but his eyes didn't leave Jess, the steady rise and fall of her chest were the only things keeping him sane. "We've repaired a lot of the internal damage but we need more supplies to finish."

"Then we'll go to the hospital and get them," Mac stated. "Put a list together, just the things you need to treat Jess, we'll get them as quick as we can and get back here."

"Time is important," Hawkes told them and Mac nodded. "I'd come with you but I can't risk leaving her."

"It's fine, just tell us what we need and where we're likely to find it," Mac said and Sid pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over.

"That's what we need," he stated.

"Stella, Danny, Lindsay, you come with me, the rest of you stay here," Mac ordered as Hawkes followed the four of them to the door, describing the layout of the hospital and where they'd find the supplies he needed. They disappeared out of the apartment door and Don focused his full attention back on Jess. He leaned closer to her, brushing her hair back from her face, running his fingers across her cheek.

"Come on Jess," he whispered, hoping that somehow she could hear him. "I need you here."

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Sid standing over him, his eyes on Jess. "She'll be fine, she's a tough one."

* * *

They arrived at the hospital, parking the car right outside the door and practically jumping out of it. Hawkes had given them a few possible places in the hospital that the supplies he needed might be and Lindsay had spent the journey there making a second copy of the supply list so they could split up and find everything faster. Mac told them which places to check, ordering them to meet back at the entrance when they were done and Danny grabbed Lindsay's hand running off in the direction of the stairs, every minute it took them was a minute that Jess needed.

He found the first storage closet easily, going inside and making his way along the shelves on one side while Lindsay did the same on the opposite side. He found one of the drugs on the list but it was obvious somebody had been in there before and a lot of stuff was missing now. He held up the small bottle to Lindsay who nodded with a small smile and took it from him, putting it in the pocket of her jacket and grabbing an extra one from the shelf.

"Just in case," she said and Danny took her hand again, leading them both out of the storage closet and in search of the rest of the supplies. He passed body after body, some on the floors of the corridors, others in the beds, patients who probably hadn't even been in there because of the virus but had been killed by it anyway. This wasn't the first time they'd been to the hospital for supplies, they hadn't been in such a rush last time, and they'd been there for a while, getting all the supplies they needed. It was one of the worst places in the city for dead bodies, all the people that had gotten sick before the pandemic got to its worst came here or to one of the triage centres. He hated it here, the smell, the decomposition, the lifeless eyes. The only thing that was going to get him anywhere near the children's ward was if he couldn't find the supplies for Jess anywhere else in the hospital. He was used to death but this was too much, even for him.

"You alright?" Lindsay questioned.

"No," Danny told her. "Let's just get what we need for Jess and get out of here."

Lindsay nodded, holding his hand tighter as they made their way down the corridor to another storage closet. They did the same thing again, checking opposite sides of the room, speed reading labels as they moved along, finding a couple of the things they needed.

"I don't see the IV fluids here either," Lindsay stated, it was the most important thing on the list. Sid had underlined it three times to make sure they wouldn't forget it.

"We'll find them, I've got the sutures," he said as he stuffed everything into his pockets. "Alright, next place is the last one Hawkes told us to check, other than what Mac and Stella are checking."

"Let's hurry up then," Lindsay replied, the two of them leaving the room. Danny caught sight of movement down the corridor, two men and he put his arm out in front of Lindsay, forcing her back into the room and closing the door carefully behind them. "Danny, what are you..." Lindsay began but Danny clamped a hand over her mouth and gave her a meaningful look before he released her again.

"There's someone else here," he told her. There were voices outside the door, there were only two reasons for anyone else to be in the building, they were looking for supplies too in which case they were probably coming in that room, or they'd seen them all coming in and had come after them. He looked at Lindsay, like hell they were getting their hands on her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her around the room, ducking them both down behind one of the shelves just as the door opened. He was suddenly very glad there was no electricity, in the little storage room the only light they had came from the corridor and the little flashlights the men were carrying. The two men shone their lights around the room and Danny and Lindsay both ducked down further to avoid being seen.

The men left again, not searching the shelves or taking anything with them which told Danny one thing, they weren't here for supplies.

He stood up slowly, gesturing for Lindsay to stay where she was and she gave him a 'like hell' look but he sent her his pleading eyes and she stayed put, at least for now. He made his way to the door, listening for any noise, footsteps, voices, but there was nothing. He glanced back at Lindsay who was still half ducked down behind the shelf, he opened the door, stepping out into the corridor but not seeing anyone. Turning around he headed back into the storage room only to be hit on the back of the head by something before he could get through the door. He fell to the ground, his senses gone for a second but they did pick up one thing, Lindsay's voice shouting protests as she was dragged out from her hiding place.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Mac searched the shelf of the storage room, finding the IV fluids that Hawkes had requested and Sid had underlined three times. He slid the clear bag into his pocket carefully and took a spare one, putting that into the pocket on the other side of his coat just as Stella came to stand beside him. She looked worried, her stance was rigid, her shoulders were hunched over and her eyes were distant. She was standing close to him, closer than she usually would have done which was saying rather a lot.

"That's the most important thing, we've checked our half of the storage rooms, let's hope Danny and Lindsay found what we're missing," she stated as her eyes scanned over the room once more.

"She'll be fine," Mac reassured her, hoping it wouldn't turn out to be a lie. She nodded, not looking entirely convinced; the image of Jess lying pale and bloody on the table of his apartment probably wasn't helping much. He'd worked with Jess a number of times before all this had started; she'd been a good detective, set to rival Don one day. He hadn't known her all that well though, not until they'd all somehow survived the virus. He couldn't imagine not having her around now, she'd slipped very easily into the family his team had become and he wasn't sure Don would survive losing her, especially now.

"We should go," Stella said and the two of them left the store room making their way back towards the stairs. Mac paused momentarily, he was sure he'd heard a noise from behind them but turning around he couldn't see anything. He continued walking; Stella was just moving through the door to the stairwell ahead of him.

He saw a hand grab her and pull her through; he ran forward grabbing his gun from his side and bursting through the door. Stella was being held there at gun point, the man digging the barrel of his gun into her neck, two more men standing further down the stairs, their own guns in hand and aimed at him. Stella was looking at him, seemingly more annoyed than afraid; he could imagine she wasn't happy about the delay.

"Let her go," Mac ordered, the man with the gun to her neck smiled, amused.

"Sure pops, maybe when we're finished with her, or maybe not," he replied and Mac felt his blood boil, every instinct in him telling him to shoot, his training keeping him from making that mistake. Three against one were not good odds, even for someone with his training. "You even know how to use that thing, or are you just waving it around for effect?"

"He's NYPD you moron," Stella stated wincing when the gun was shoved further into her neck. Mac's finger tightened ever so slightly on the trigger. He was close enough that his aim was dead on, he could hit the guy without hitting Stella but his two friends would have bullets in him and maybe Stella before he could turn on them.

"A cop huh, didn't think any were still alive," the man said, giving Mac a judging once over. "Well, we'll just be going now, and if you don't want to get you and your lady friend here killed then I suggest you don't follow us."

He started moving backwards, down the stairs toward his friends, taking Stella with him. Mac felt a brief moment of panic but he hid it well, if they got away, he'd never get her back and he knew what their plans for her would be. This was exactly the reason that none of the women were allowed to go anywhere on their own, women seemed to have become something of a precious commodity, there didn't seem to be many of them left in New York, at least not in comparison with the men. Then there was a gunshot, coming from below and one of men jolted, blood pooling at his chest before he slumped to the floor unmoving. Mac looked down over the railing to see Danny moving up the stairs another shot from his gun taking out the second of the men. Mac reacted quickly firing his own weapon, he hit the man holding Stella in the shoulder, the shock of it providing Stella with the opportunity to get loose and run to Mac's side.

"You... you..." the man stuttered, grasping at his shoulder. He took off running, speeding passed Danny who waited until he heard a door slam beneath then before lowering his weapon.

"They got Lindsay," Danny shouted up at them, turning and running back down the stairs. Mac glanced at Stella, there was no time to check she was alright, the two of them took off after Danny. They caught up with him on the bottom floor, he was stood looking around, trying to figure out where they were taking her, which exit they might use.

"They had to have seen us come in," Mac stated. "So they probably came in the same way we did."

It was a risk, if they took Lindsay out of another exit they'd be gone before they could be stopped, but it was a risk they had to take. They ran down the corridor, knowing they had gone the right way when they heard Lindsay's voice shouting protests, an exasperated male voice telling her to shut up and stay still. They came up on the front entrance to the hospital, Lindsay was being dragged toward the door, struggling to get away, she knew what would happen if they got out of here with her.

"Stop right there," Mac shouted, weapon aimed at the two men hauling Lindsay away. Lindsay looked relieved, she stopped fighting, watching the exchange and waiting. "Let her go now."

"Not likely," one of the men stated. "Lower your guns, hand over the woman and there'll be no need for us to kill you. We just want the women."

"That's not going to happen," Mac stated, noticing the tight grip Danny had on his weapon, the way his eyes kept darting to Lindsay and back to the man holding her, this needed to end quickly.

"Mac," he heard Stella whisper, her voice so quiet no one but him would hear it. "There are more of them outside."

Mac allowed his gaze to briefly look passed the two men, through the glass doors of the front entrance where he caught sight of movement. "If you're thinking of holding out until your friends get here don't bother, we already took out the others that came into the building with you and we're not going to wait around for those outside to come in."

"We outnumber you, give us the girls and we'll leave you alone," one of the men said. The other who was still holding Lindsay started moving toward the door again.

"Stop or I'll fire," Danny ordered but was ignored. The other man obviously realised he was serious and turned his gun on Danny, Mac was left with little choice but to fire on him. Lindsay took advantage of the other guy's shock, ramming her elbow into his stomach forcing his grip on her to weaken; she dropped to the floor, dropping herself out of the line of fire. Stella and Danny fired at the same time, both bullets hitting their mark who died almost instantly. Danny ran to Lindsay pulling her up from the floor and into his arms, holding her tightly.

Mac checked the IV bags in his pockets, both were still intact. "Do we have what we need?" he questioned quickly, his eyes on the door; he didn't want to waste coming here by not leaving with what they needed for Jess.

"We have the painkillers, some antibiotics and sutures," Lindsay listed off. "We couldn't find the IV stuff though."

"We got that," Stella replied "Plus a couple of other things on the list."

Lindsay moved back from Danny, quickly pulling the list and a pen from her pocket and crossing off what she and Danny had. Stella did the same before declaring that they had the things they really needed. Mac tore his gaze from the doors. "We'll go out a different way, there's an exit over here."

They all followed him, coming to a fire exit and leaving the hospital, it wasn't difficult to locate another car, and there was nothing of importance in the one they'd come here with. Danny hotwired the car, getting it started while the others got in and he quickly drove them away from the hospital.

* * *

Hawkes had done what he could for Jess with Sid's help. They'd moved her through to Mac's bedroom on his insistence so that she could be more comfortable. Hawkes and Sid had both been in and out constantly, checking on her condition and giving her what medication she needed. Don hadn't left her side; he was sat on a chair beside the bed, her hand still held tightly in his. He'd been assured that she should be fine, it was just a case of waiting for her to wake up now. He wouldn't feel better until she was awake though, until he saw her eyes open.

He looked up as Stella came into the room, her eyes on Jess for a moment before she turned to Don. "Mac's called a meeting, we all need to be there," she told him apologetically. He looked at Jess again, not wanting to leave her side but he nodded following Stella out of the bedroom to where the others were gathered on the couch. Danny was sat with Lindsay, his arm around her tightly, he'd heard about their close call at the hospital, he'd have to thank them both later as well as Mac and Stella.

"Alright, I don't want to keep you long, I know it's getting late," Mac began as Don and Stella sat down. "I think it's become more than obvious that the city is getting more dangerous. We've had two incidents in one day, first with Jerome and Jess, then again at the hospital. I don't expect things are going to get any better, in fact, I expect them to get worse. We're running out of resources here, the more we use up the more desperate everyone is going to get. This set up," he gestured around them. "Has worked so far but it's not going to work forever, it's going to get too dangerous to stay here."

"What are you saying Mac?" Danny questioned. "That we leave?"

"Where would we go?" Hawkes asked sitting forward in his chair. "I doubt anywhere else in the city is going to be much better than here."

"We could try the suburbs, less people around?" Sid suggested but Mac shook his head.

"I'm suggesting that we leave the city," he told them. Don's eyes widened, there were whispers around the room. "I know it's a big decision, I know it's sudden but looking at what's happened today and knowing it's going to get worse as resources get scarcer I don't see that we have much of a choice."

"But again Mac," Hawkes began. "Where would we go?"

"I don't know yet, I wanted to put the idea passed all of you before we come to any other decisions," Mac replied looking over the group. "As I said, this is a beg decision, I wanted to give you all time to think about it."

Don thought of Jess lying in the bedroom, still unconscious, he'd do whatever he could to make sure she didn't end up like that again. "I don't need time to think Mac, I vote we go, if it keeps Jess safe, then I'll go."

"I'm with Don," Danny said with a glance at Lindsay. "If we come up with a decent plan, I vote we go."

Lindsay nodded. "We'll have to decide where exactly we're going to go but I vote we go to."

"And I'm with them," Adam added, Sid and Hawkes both nodded their own agreement and after a moment Stella did too.

"Alright, then we need to come up with a plan, we have plenty of time to think, we can't go anywhere until Jess has recovered but once she's back on her feet, we'll go," Mac stated and Don stood up heading back through to the bedroom.

* * *

Don had no idea what had woken him, he was still in the chair beside Jess's bed, he must have dozed off at some point. His neck hurt from the uncomfortable position it had been forced to lay in but Don stretched the muscles and the ache began to subside. He glanced at the clock which told him it was a little after 5am. He couldn't hear anything; Mac was probably asleep on the couch despite Don insisting he sleep in his apartment since he was here with Jess. He heard a murmur from Jess and knew immediately what had woken him, he practically jumped out of the chair, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Jess," he said quietly, hoping the sound of his voice would help her get back to him. Whether it helped or not he didn't know but she opened her eyes all the same, looking confused and pained.

"Don?" she whispered and he could have cried at the relief running through him.

"Hey babe," he replied, smoothing back her hair. "Gave me quite a scare that time."

"What happened?" she questioned realisation passing over her face as the memories came back to her even as she asked. She tried to sit up, eyes widening, pain forcing her back down again as quickly as Don's hands. "The others, are they alright?"

"Calm down Jess," he said stopping her from making another attempt at getting up. "Danny and Lindsay are both here, they're fine."

"Jerome?" Jess questioned, fear in her eyes, she already knew the answer. "He's dead," she whispered, allowing her body to fall back into the bed as Mac came through the door.

"I thought I heard voices," Mac said as he looked over them both. "Good to have you back with us, I'll go get Hawkes."

"What happened?" Jess asked again.

"You remember the gang that attacked you at the supermarket?" Don questioned and she nodded. "Jerome was hit; Lindsay said it killed him almost instantly. You were stabbed, Danny and Lindsay managed to take out enough of them that the others made a run for it, then they got you back here. It was a close one, Hawkes managed to stabilise you temporarily but he needed some supplies from the hospital so some of the others headed over there to get them for you."

"They all make it back in one piece?" Jess questioned absently, as though she simply expected the answer to be 'yes'.

"They were attacked, another gang went after Lindsay and Stella, Mac and Danny managed to get them back," Don summed up and Jess's eyes widened. "They're okay, I'm not sure Danny will be letting Lindsay out of his sight anytime soon though."

"Twice in one day," Jess shook her head. "It's getting worse here."

"We were talking about that, Mac called a meeting while you were out. He thinks it's best if we leave the city, we all voted to go," he told her, waiting for her response, expecting her to be surprised, to need to think but instead she simply nodded.

"Yesterday I might have disagreed, I think the knife wound in my side kinda makes the decision easier," she replied with a small smile. He leaned forward, his lips touching hers for only a moment, relief that she was okay flowing through him once again.

"Don't do that to me again," he told her and she smiled.

"I'll try," she said as the door to the room opened, Mac returning with Hawkes in tow.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Note: I'm so sorry for the delay getting this to you, I've had RL issues and exams and I've just had so little time for fandom. All of my college assignments are in and exams are over. I plan to have updates for all of my fics up over the next week. Thanks to all of my readers for their patience over the last few months, I know my updates haven't exactly been routine. Special thanks to; afrozenheart412, HSMSupernatural and jessicaflack for their reviews on the previous chapter. **

Chapter 4

Lindsay had always been very independent, her father had always told her she'd grown up too fast, that she'd wasted the years where she could have someone do everything for her. She hadn't minded, she liked doing things for herself; she liked having her own space. She loved Danny too, normally the two things were not mutually exclusive, normally she could have both. At the moment though, independence and her own space seemed to have been sacrificed for her love of Danny. He'd been hovering; ever since they got back from the hospital he hadn't let her out of his sight. She'd gone down the corridor yesterday to Don and Jess's apartment to take them some food and see how Jess was doing, Danny had followed her.

At first she'd been appreciative of the closeness, she'd be a liar if she said what happened at the hospital hadn't affected her. Danny being around had given her the comfort she needed, the strength and the knowledge she was safe. It had been a few days now and she was a person who sometimes needed a little space, time to herself to think, she wasn't getting it.

She sighed as Danny picked up her plate, taking it to the kitchen for her which normally she wouldn't mind, would even appreciate but it was one thing in a long list of things he'd done for her. She stood up and followed him, leaning against the counter.

"I'm fine you know," she pointed out. "I wasn't actually hurt; I can carry my own plate and get my own water. I'm not going to get kidnapped on my way down the corridor to see Jess and there's no one lying in wait in the apartment to get me when you leave."

Danny turned to her, a small smile on his lips that showed his amusement but his eyes still serious. "I know."

"So you don't need to hover," she told him moving to stand in front of him, his arms slipping around her waist automatically. "I love you Danny, but the hovering is getting a little annoying."

Danny smiled, genuinely. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I just keep thinking about what could have happened. I should have been more careful, I shouldn't have let them take you."

"Danny they snuck up behind you and hit you hard enough to knock most men out," Lindsay stated. "It wasn't your fault, you did everything you could and even though you were hit hard enough to knock a person out you still got up, came after me, rescued Mac and Stella and then rescued me. I don't think you did too badly. I wish I could have done as well."

Danny frowned, but then realisation dawned. "You're talking about Jerome?" he questioned and she nodded. "That wasn't your fault; there was nothing you could have done."

"I know that, and it may sound selfish, in fact it probably sounds horrible but I'm just glad we got Jess back here in time," Lindsay told him, looking down at his chest. She'd hated herself for it, Jerome had died and all she'd felt was relief that Jess hadn't joined him. They'd left his body, out there in the middle of the parking lot, like every other victim of the virus and senseless violence that had taken over since then. It felt disrespectful, to him, to his life, none of them had even had the time to mourn his death.

"It's not horrible, it's human. We lost one person that day, even Jerome would have been glad that we didn't lose another," Danny told her and she nodded, it did little to make her feel better about it. "I was glad it wasn't you."

The honesty in that surprised her though it shouldn't have. She stood up on her toes, her lips meeting his, the kiss gentle but quickly growing urgent, releasing the tension of the last few days. She was the one to break it, slipping out from between Danny and the counter, ignoring the narrowed eyes she got from Danny. "I promised Jess I'd go see her after lunch, you know, her being stuck in bed and all," she told him. He opened his mouth to say something, probably 'I'll come with you' but she cut him off. "No, you're not coming; go annoy Adam for a while."

"Montana, I don't..." he began but she cut him off.

"I'll see you later Danny," she called over her shoulder, going out the door before he could stop her.

* * *

Jess was already feeling a lot better; it had helped when Hawkes had finally agreed to let her go back to the apartment she shared with Don. It wasn't home, it would never be home but she could just be there with Don and he was the closest thing to home she had. He hadn't left her side much, she knew she'd scared him and if she was honest she'd scared herself a little too. That was why she'd been so ready to agree to the plan to leave, normally she would have protested, New York, what was left of it, was home and she didn't like the idea of leaving it behind. The world had changed though, she was lying in bed with a knife wound not because of an injury she'd sustained on the job but because she'd gone to the supermarket. New York wasn't the same place anymore and she'd rather she wasn't in this position again; she'd rather none of the others ended up in it either. They'd lost another life, Jerome had been young, younger than the rest of them and before the virus he'd had a lot to look forward to in his life.

She dragged herself out of bed, she'd been stuck in it for days and Hawkes had finally given her the go ahead to start moving around as long as she didn't push it. She'd watched Don cringe every time she'd gotten out of bed on that first day but he seemed to have gotten used to the idea that she wasn't going to sit around all day if she didn't have to. She made her way through to the kitchen where Don was cleaning up their dishes from dinner, such as it had been, rationing was never fun.

"Hey," Don greeted when he saw her slowly making her way into the room, using the wall for support. "I know Hawkes said you could get up and move around some but I don't think he meant business as usual."

"Gotta get my strength back, the faster I'm back on my feet the faster we can concentrate on getting out of here before this happens to someone else," Jess replied sitting herself on one of the kitchen stools and deciding to stay there for a while.

"Don't worry about it Jess, we have yet to even come up with some kind of plan," Don told her walking around the counter to sit on the stool next to her. "Besides, we would all rather you recovered properly than have you push yourself before you're ready."

"I'll be fine Don, the only thing that's going to prevent me being fine is if I stay stuck in that bed, you know I'm not good at staying still for long periods of time," she replied. He probably knew that better than anybody, he had always commented on her being in a different position every time he looked at her, even if it was just her leaning forward instead of backwards in her chair.

"I know," Don replied leaning forward to kiss her, his lips meeting hers for a moment before he rested his forehead against hers. "I love you."

She smiled, pressing her lips back to his, they didn't say it often but she supposed after recent events it just needed to be said. "I love you too."

* * *

Adam sat with the remaining pieces of the radio; he'd taken it to bits over a month ago and had since been working on 'improving' it. He wanted it to pick up more signals from further away, there had to be something out there and maybe there was a broadcast, something to help the pockets of survivors all over America. It was one of his many projects, they kept him sane, gave him things to do and allowed him to feel useful, if they helped out too then that was a bonus. He'd also started going through Jerome's research notes, the man had been determined to figure out why so many of them from the lab had survived the virus, it couldn't just be a coincidence.

Jerome had told Adam a few days before he died that he thought he might have found something, the reason they were all still here when almost everyone else was dead. It had haunted Jerome, he hadn't just wanted to know, he'd needed to and he'd spent most of his time since the virus trying to figure it out. He'd done it too and Adam wondered if he'd realised that he had the answer before he died, Adam liked to think he did.

He'd told the others who all seemed as happy as him to have the answer, to know why they were all still here when so many others had died. It was their jobs; their jobs had been what had saved them from the virus. There was one thing in common, one thing that all of them had done including the other lab techs that had survived the virus only to leave or die afterwards. A case, they'd all worked the same case almost a year and a half ago, it had been huge, the whole team had been brought in on it and Adam remembered it as though it was yesterday. Several men found dead in a warehouse, all of them shot to death by bullets from the same gun. What they hadn't realised going onto the scene, processing all the evidence was that the victims were all terrorists in the making. The killer had been another terrorist from the same group, tying up loose ends on a failed project. They'd attempted to make a new bio weapon, a new virus but it hadn't been nearly as effective as they'd expected it to be, the human body could too easily fight it off.

The whole team had unknowingly exposed themselves to it, they'd all gotten sick, it had felt like a bad case of the flu but they'd all recovered from it in the end and the majority of the 'would be terrorists' were arrested and imprisoned. It was the one commonality between them all, the one thing that could explain away their immunity, the virus they'd been exposed to back then had saved them from this new one, some change to them, an antibody maybe had kept them alive.

He put the last few pieces of the radio together hoping that this time he might actually have succeeded at doing... something with the so far useless thing. He switched it on, hearing static which suggested he had at least put it back together properly. He ran through the frequencies finding nothing but static and was about to sigh and admit to defeat when he heard a voice. He went passed the frequency before he could stop himself and started going backwards hoping to find it again.

There it was, the voice, a male voice, talking to him through the radio. It was automated, obviously so and looping but it was there and he could almost cry. He listened in, listened carefully as the man spoke, giving him information that Adam knew he needed to write down. He grabbed a pen and paper, jotting down what was important.

He grabbed the radio, running out of his apartment and down the hall to Mac's. He knocked before he went in, a courtesy really since his apartment had become their usual hangout. Mac was sat on the couch with a book on his lap, staring ahead of him rather than at the book. He looked up when he heard Adam come in, the unfamiliar male voice on the radio garnering some attention.

"I did it," Adam grinned proudly. "That broadcast is coming from Washington."

"Well done," Mac replied, standing up and walking over to him.

"You have to listen, this is what we need," Adam told him, handing the radio over to him, watching the thoughtful look on his boss's face as he listened to the broadcast. Mac nodded his head as he listened and Adam could practically see the cogs turning as he did so, a plan being formulated.

"Great work Adam, as usual," Mac smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. "Get everyone together."

Adam nodded and left feeling a great sense of pride in his accomplishment once again. He was better at creating paper aeroplanes than wielding a gun and he was no doctor like Hawkes but his own skills had proven just as valuable as everyone else's since the virus. The alarm system, the camera's set up in the halls, the radio, they'd all been down to him and each time he'd felt more than excited by the prospect of being able to help in his own way.

He knocked on Stella's door first and told her Mac wanted to see her. He decided to go to Flack and Angell's next since Jess was still injured and would probably need the extra time to get down the corridor. He was surprised when Jess herself answered the door, looking slightly pained from the effort. Don appeared behind her, his expression more of exasperation than anything else.

"Mac needs everyone in his apartment," Adam told them, a small smile still on his face.

His next target was Danny and Lindsay in the apartment across from that one. Danny appeared without his shirt, Lindsay behind him wearing it and he got the distinct feeling he'd interrupted something.

"Er, erm, Mac wants to see everyone," he told them, averting his gaze from Lindsay's legs and walking away quickly. He ran into Hawkes in the corridor and then got Sid from him apartment, Danny and Lindsay passing by him, Lindsay now wearing jeans, which just left him to get to the little meeting.

"Alright," Mac began once Adam was seated along with the rest of them. "Adam has once again proved he is more useful than the rest of us and 'improved' the semi working radio we found. He's picked up a broadcast from Washington."

Mac played the broadcast and Adam watched the faces of his colleagues, former colleagues really, as they listened. It was hope that he felt go through the room; hope that maybe this wasn't the best they had to look forward to in their lives now, hope for something better. Adam listened again as the male voice told them of the settlement in Washington, of the people there that were starting again, rebuilding what had been lost and inviting other survivors to come and join the effort. They had food, water, electricity. In their little corner of the world, life went on and Adam felt his own hope getting the better of him.

"We needed a plan," Mac stated as he turned the radio off again. "I think we were just handed one."

"They actually have electricity," Lindsay stated in awe, as though it was something from another world, not a convenience that had been a reigning part of their lives only months ago.

"This place sounds almost too good to be true," Danny said shaking his head in disbelief.

"Let's hope that it isn't," Mac said. "It's something to aim for, Adam has already written down the details we'll need."

"We're really going to do this?" Stella questioned. "Leave New York?"

"What choice do we really have?" Hawkes replied with a glance at Jess and Adam noticed Don's arm around her tighten.

"I know it's just... not something I ever expected to be doing," Stella said and there were nods from both Danny and Don who had always lived and breathed New York.

"So unless anyone has any protests..." Mac paused allowing anyone to voice those protests if they had them, no one spoke. "Then we'll leave as soon as Jess is back on her feet," he told them turning to Jess. "And I mean properly back on your feet not just gritting your teeth and pretending to be fine."

Jess narrowed her eyes and Don smirked, which only earned him a slap on the chest from Jess. "Why is everyone assuming I'm going to do that?"

"We need to answer?" Lindsay questioned.

"I'll check Jess over again but I'm sure given another week she should be fit for travel, another week after that and she'll be getting back to her usual self," Hawkes stated, his eyes going over Jess judgingly as though forming his opinion based on what he was seeing now. It had been over a week since she'd been injured and she'd been up and around for a few days now, Adam didn't see her waiting around much longer.

"Two weeks then," Mac said with a glance at Jess. "We'll leave in two weeks. Washington isn't going anywhere and we have enough supplies here now to last us that long."

"Two weeks," Stella repeated the words hanging in the air.

* * *

Stella stared at the wall of Mac's apartment; it had long since gotten dark outside, candles were now the only source of light in the apartment. Most of the other's had gone to bed, or at least back to their own places. She and Mac had stayed there talking into the early hours of the morning, it wasn't unusual for them, especially now.

"You're still not sure," Mac stated and she realised he was staring at her.

"Yes I am," Stella replied, getting a raised eyebrow in return. "I am, it's just, it's not an easy thing. I love New York; I never expected that I would have to leave. It just feels like if we go we'll really be leaving our old lives behind. I guess I've still been clinging to it a little."

"You're not the only one," Mac told her, pulling out his badge from his jacket pocket. "I still carry it with me everywhere; I know the other's do too. This is a big decision for us all, a hard decision but I think it's the right one."

"I know it is," Stella said. "At least all the important things I still have are going with me, I think I would have gone insane if all of you hadn't survived as well, especially you. Even after all this I still can't imagine my life without you in it," she smiled. "When did that happen huh, when did you become so integral to my life?"

"I don't know," Mac smiled. "I would hope it was around the same time you became integral to mine, the day we met."

Stella smirked. "That almost sounds like a line Mac Taylor."

"Me, line, never," Mac laughed and Stella joined him, it almost felt like old times, like the virus had never happened, for a second she let herself forget that it had. "You're right though, everything that's important to us now is going with us. If we stay here much longer, we might not have that anymore. Just look at what happened to Jess, what almost happened to you and Lindsay at the hospital. We lost Jerome, we lost Teresa a month before that and they weren't the first. We'll be cut down one by one if we stay here."

"You're right, I know that, it'll be hard that's all," Stella said looking toward the closed curtains that covered the window keeping anyone outside from seeing the faint glow of the candles.

"For all of us," Mac replied. He sighed and stood up. "We should both get some sleep."

Stella nodded, standing up as well and planting a soft kiss on his cheek. "Good night Mac."

"Good night Stella."

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors Note: Penultimate chapter here guys, thanks for sticking with me. Special thanks to; Runner043, Electrical Storm 1996, dannymesserforever11, afrozenheart412, HSMSupernatural and CSI4lyfNCIS 13. Last chapter will hopefully be up on Saturday, I'm going to Spain for two weeks that day though so I may not find the time, will do my best though. **

Chapter 5

It had been three weeks since Jess had been stabbed and she was back on her feet now and for the most part healed. Mac had decided it was time for them to get out of the city, they'd pretty much exhausted their supplies. They were going to need a lot more if they were going to be travelling to Washington which meant another trip around the city to find supplies. Mac hadn't been sure he was going to let Jess go but she'd put up a convincing argument, meaning she hadn't given up until he'd agreed to let her go. They were splitting into teams again, this time Jess was staying with Don; he doubted it could have been any other way.

"Alright, you all know how this goes, back here by nightfall, stay in your groups, stay alert, let's not have a repeat of last time. I want everyone back here, uninjured, by the time the sun goes down," Mac told them and there were nods around the group. He watched Danny, Don, Jess and Lindsay get in the other car, hoping he'd made the right decision in letting Jess go when she wasn't yet back to a hundred percent.

"They'll be fine," Stella said as she turned around and got in the car. Hawkes was already sat in the back waiting for the two of them and Mac went around to the driver's side, getting in and driving them the opposite way to the other car.

They were driving for two hours, passing by shops and supermarkets that had clearly already been raided for supplies. The city was getting desperate now and he knew they were probably getting out just in time; it was going to get much worse from here. Jerome's death, Jess's stabbing, the attack at the hospital, Mac had a feeling they were just the tip of the ice berg that was waiting for them if they stayed in the city any longer.

They found a store, a corner shop really that looked relatively untouched and Mac parked the car right outside the door, stepping out of the car and reaching for his gun. He moved to the side of the door, his eyes warily watching the street for any sign of people, anyone that might want to do them harm which was most of the city's population now. Stella was at the other side of the door, Hawkes a few feet from her, his focus almost entirely on the street, covering them.

Mac tried the door, the handle turning and the door nudging open easily. He pushed it, letting it quickly swing the rest of the way and stepping inside, gun aimed ahead of him, eyes taking in every corner of the small store. Stella was right behind him, Hawkes appearing in the doorway, his eyes still on the street. There didn't seem to be anyone around, the smell of decomposition told him there was a body around somewhere, mixed with the smell of bad food he knew they weren't going to find much of use here.

"Let's take a look around and get what we need," Mac ordered, already searching the shelves for anything they could take with them. They wouldn't need much for the trip itself but they were taking the long way there to avoid major highways. However, if Washington turned out to be too good to be true they'd have to come up with a new plan and whatever that plan was they would need supplies for it. He was hoping they wouldn't need the extra supplies but he would rather be prepared than find themselves in trouble.

"I got rice," Stella said from the other side of the shelf and he looked up as she held out a few packets. "Lots of it. There's pasta here too so Jess will be pleased."

"Grab everything you can," Mac told her needlessly and Stella went over to the cash register, searching around behind it and finding several large, brown paper bags. She handed some to Mac before filling her own with rice and pasta. "I don't think food is going to be a problem, its water that'll be an issue."

"Yeah, we definitely can't use what's here," Stella replied looking at the unpowered fridge behind her, wrinkling her nose at it. "We still have some at the apartment, not much but maybe we'll find more en route, maybe a running stream?"

"Let's hope so," Mac said as he started filling the bags with jars and tins.

* * *

Lindsay handed the last crate to Don and turned around to look over the warehouse, it had been pretty lucky that they'd stumbled on this place. It was virtually untouched, a lot of the food there was useless but they'd managed to get enough to last them until they got to Washington plus plenty of extra in case they couldn't stay there. They'd made a few stops along the way for gas, taking it out of other cars, what hadn't already been taken at least. They'd even managed to find water, not a lot but some was better than none.

Jess appeared from behind some of the larger crates, a small smile on her face. "We were lucky to find this place."

"Yeah, and it only took us three hours of driving," Lindsay laughed as they headed outside to where Danny and Don were loading the last of the supplies into the car.

"You alright?" Don asked Jess for what seemed like the millionth time since they'd left the apartment. Lindsay couldn't really blame him either, she knew how close he'd come to losing her, if they hadn't got her back to the apartment when they did, if Hawkes hadn't been a doctor in a previous life... she didn't want to think about what would have happened.

"I'm fine," Jess replied with a patience that had surprised Lindsay. The two of them had been bickering earlier about what constituted heavy lifting which Hawkes had told her not to do.

Don raised an eyebrow at her. "I saw you wincing when you were carrying that water earlier."

"I'm a little sore but I think I'll live," Jess told him with a smile.

"That's great," Danny said, his voice sounding strained and Lindsay looked passed Don to see him trying to manoeuvre a rather large crate into the back of the car. "Now does someone wanna help me out here?"

"Danny, I' not even sure that's going to fit in there," Lindsay told him as Don went back to helping.

"Oh it'll fit," Danny replied forcing it. "It's the last one, it's going in whether it likes it or not."

Both Jess and Lindsay shook their heads and went to get in the car. "Well, we'll be in here when you two give up and decide you're ready to go."

They got in the car, manoeuvring around the supplies that had been put both on the back seat and where their feet would normally go. "This is just a car accident waiting to happen," Jess commented as she shoved one of the crates to the side slightly so she could sit down. Lindsay realised there was nowhere to shove the crate that was in her way so instead she sat on top of it. It felt very unsafe and she could see over the top of the driver's seat, she had to agree with Jess, she could already see herself flying right over Danny's head and through the front window.

Jess was moving some more stuff around, and Lindsay heard her sharp intake of breath when she tried to force something too heavy for her to move. She gave her a once over as Jess gripped her side where she'd been stabbed, taking a few breaths before shoving the stuff to where she'd wanted it to go.

"You're lucky Don wasn't in here for that," Lindsay commented.

"And you're not going to tell him," Jess said and Lindsay held her hands up.

"My lips are sealed," she told her with a smile but then turned serious. "But if you're still having trouble you should say something."

"I'm fine," Jess replied a little too quickly and Lindsay decided to let it go, she'd just have to keep an eye on her. Danny and Don finally got in the car, a smug look on Danny's face telling her he'd gotten the final crate in, with the amount of bumping about she'd felt she wasn't surprised.

"Let's head back," Danny said as he started the car.

* * *

She couldn't believe she could fit all of her belongings into just one bag. Everything she had, her clothes, photographs, toiletries and the few other little things she'd saved from her old apartment, it all fit into just one red duffel bag. She remembered going back to her apartment with Don, Mac and Stella, she'd had to pick which of her things she wanted to keep with her, had been forced to leave so many memories behind.

"You alright Jess?" Don questioned and she looked across the bed to where Don had finished packing his own things, just one bag.

"Yeah," she nodded, not entirely convinced herself and Don walked around the bed, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. She leaned back against him with a sigh. "It feels like we've been living this way forever but less than eight months ago we were both cops, going to work, deciding whose apartment we were going to crash at in the middle of a long case and ordering dinner because neither of us could be bothered to cook."

"It seems like a lifetime ago doesn't it?" Don questioned and she nodded again, looking at the bag that contained everything she owned.

"Yeah, I miss it," Jess replied.

"I think we all do," Don stated kissing her neck and then letting go of her. "Come on or we're gonna be late. I can smell that food already."

Jess smiled as she turned to him. "Alright, we wouldn't want you missing the only proper meal you've had in months."

"I'm a growing boy Jess," Don replied an arm going around her shoulder as they left the apartment. "All this rationing is not good for me."

They were the last to arrive, Danny and Stella had already been helping Mac to make dinner and the others had all gotten their pretty quickly. Apparently packing hadn't taken anyone very long; Lindsay had managed to pack for both her and Danny in twenty minutes. The apartment smelled good and Jess's stomach decided to remind her that she hadn't had a decent meal in months. It was their last night in New York though and they'd decided that was a good enough reason to break the rationing for one night and have dinner together.

Don and Jess were ordered to sit at the table with the others while the food was served and once everyone was sat down eating conversation was easy. It felt normal, like the virus had never happened and they were all just having a get together to celebrate one thing or another. They shared their memories of the city, laughing at stories of Danny and Don getting themselves in trouble, both men trying to hide as talk of some of their ex-girlfriends came out. Mac even talked about Claire, Stella squeezing his hand where it rested on the table. Hawkes and Sid recounted stories from the morgue; they even allowed Sid of a few of his creepier stories. Adam remembered Kendall and the strange feud he'd had with her in the lab. Lindsay talked about moving to New York and how she had never regretted that decision and Jess spoke about her family, the one she had lost and the one she was surrounded by now. There was laughing as they recalled some of their more interesting cases, suspects and witnesses, grimacing as they remembered some of their close calls.

It was a night filled with memories, memories the city had given them and they talked long after dinner. Eventually they returned to their apartments, they had to sleep if they were going to leave in the morning. As they fell asleep they all remembered all the reasons they didn't want to leave.

* * *

Mac locked the door of his apartment, more out of habit than anything else and carried the last of his things down stairs and out of the building. He dropped his sleeping bag and duffel bag onto the pile that had accumulated on the pavement and walked over to join Stella and Hawkes. Everyone was ready to go, none of them were happy about it but they all knew this was the right choice, the only one.

"Danny and Don have gone to bring the cars up," Stella told him and Mac nodded as he saw one of the SUVs in question driving up the street. It was Danny driving and he parked right in front of them, jumping out to help load some of the bags into the back. Don was less than a minute behind him and between the two cars they were able to load up everything they needed.

"Alright, that's everyone's bags and sleeping bags, the food, water and blankets, I think that's everything," Mac said as he glanced between the two vehicles. He turned to the others who were all stood together at the stairs to the apartment building. "Alright, has everyone got everything, once we're gone we won't be coming back, at least not anytime soon?"

"We've got everything Mac," Stella said and the others nodded their agreement. This was it, they were leaving, it was time to say goodbye to New York.

"Then let's go," he ordered and everyone moved, splitting themselves between the two vehicles as planned. Danny, Don, Lindsay and Jess in the back one, the rest in the front car with Mac.

"I can't believe we're really going," Stella said as she got into the passenger seat next to him. She looked out of the window at the apartment building that had been their home for months now and Mac's for longer.

"Me either," Mac told her and she turned back to him with a half smile.

"For the best though," she said and he nodded, looking in the back at Adam, Sid and Hawkes, the three of them as ready to go as they were ever going to be. Out the back window he could see everyone was in the other car, the headlights were on so they were obviously ready to go as well. He started the car and with one last look at the apartment he left.

* * *

The cars were running low on fuel and they had to stop to fill them up but Stella knew they weren't going to have enough to make it to Washington. When they spotted a service station they knew they were going to have to stop and Mac signalled out of the window to the other car. Mac and Don started filling the cars, Lindsay, Danny and Hawkes going inside to see if they could find anything useful while Jess, Stella and Adam went around the side of the building to the toilets.

Stella took a moment to check herself in the mirror, travelling all day had done her no good at all. Jess checked her side while she was out of Don's worried sight; the wound was healing nicely now despite it still giving her some pain. When they were finished they met Adam outside, the three of them starting to head back to the others when they caught sight of something, movement. Out of nowhere four men appeared, Stella pulled her gun at the same time as Jess, the two of them stepping in front of the unarmed Adam. The men smirked at the action, one of them outright laughing.

"You ladies even know how to use those?" one of them questioned, his voice showing he was more amused than intimidated and none of them had been deterred. "Ever killed someone before, I have, did it with my bare hands. Don't worry none though, we need you girls, don't have any of our own anymore, virus took 'em all. You'll be our honoured guests; everyone's going to want to spend time with you."

The look on his face, the sound of his voice, Stella knew what he meant and she also knew there were more than just the four of them here. This was the third time in as many weeks that someone had tried to kidnap the women in the group, for some reason the virus killed more women than men.

"Nobody will be spending any time with us," Jess stated, her finger tightening on the trigger. More men rounded the corner, joining their friends; they were pretty badly outnumbered now.

"We'll see about that," the man said going at Stella, she did the only thing she could do, she defended herself, even while knowing it would do little good, they were too outnumbered.

* * *

Don put the pump back in place and glanced over at the building, Lindsay, Danny and Hawkes were still inside. He could see them through the window, they were laughing as Lindsay threw something at Danny who ducked below the window to avoid it. Jess and the others had yet to come back from the bathroom which, glancing at his watch, was a bit concerning but this was the first bathroom they'd come across since leaving the apartments yesterday, he supposed she and Stella wanted their time.

"I'll grab some food from the back, might as well do it now while we've stopped," Sid said as he walked around the back of the car and started routing through the bags there.

"I'll take a cheese burger and fries," Don replied humorously.

Sid nodded. "Coming right up."

Mac looked like he was about to say something when he was cut off, the sound of gunshots filling the air. Don grabbed his gun from his side and ran towards the corner of the building where Jess, Stella and Adam had disappeared earlier. He could hear footsteps following him, heard the creak of the door to the garage being opened behind him.

He rounded the corner to see Jess, Stella and Adam surrounded. Adam was holding a gun, pointing it ahead of him shakily as two men approached him, menacing grins on their faces. Stella shot a man running at her while Jess kicked another one away from her. The three of them were outnumbered though and quickly losing the battle.

"Freeze," Mac shouted, coming to a stop beside Don, his gun aimed at the man nearest Stella but his eyes darting between all of the attackers. The fighting ceased immediately, attention going to the new comers, five of whom had guns. The men obviously realised their chances weren't quite so good now, several of them were edging backwards as though preparing to make a run for it if things didn't go their way. "Let's end this here before anyone else gets hurt."

"Who are you?" one of the men questioned, his voice shifting between fear and cockiness, he hadn't decided whether the odds were still on his side or not.

"We're the guys with the guns," Danny replied before Mac could say anything. One of the men smirked, holding up his own gun but his body language showed he was one of those ready to bolt at the first sign of real danger to himself.

"Look, we're not here to cause any trouble, so let our friends go and we'll be on our way, no one else has to get hurt here," Mac stated, drawing attention back to him. The majority of the men looked happy with that solution, they'd just terrorise the next group to stop here. One of the men made the stupid mistake of making another attempt at grabbing Stella, Mac got the shot off before Stella or anyone else could even react. The men started shouting, Jess, Stella and Adam backed up a few steps toward the wall of the building. "Alright," Mac shouted his voice full of the authority it had mastered during his time as a cop and head of the crime lab. "Now how about you let us leave?"

There were glances cast between the men, most of them going to one man in particular, some sort of unofficial leader. He looked thoughtful for a moment, glancing around him as though judging the situation. He nodded.

Jess, Stella and Adam wasted no time in moving, the three of them backed away, at no point turning their backs on the men until they were around the corner and out of their sight. They ran toward the car, Mac, Danny and Don still aiming their weapons at the men who appeared at the corner, watching them leave. Don was the last to get in his car, sliding into the back with Jess just after Danny had taken the front passenger seat. Lindsay started the car, pulling out onto the road and Don glanced behind them too see Mac's car following. He kept his eyes on the road for several more minutes but there was no sign the men were following them.

Don breathed out a sigh of relief as he leaned back in his seat, grabbing Jess and pulling her into his side. He wrapped his arms around her holding her tightly and it was a couple of minutes before he realised she was holding her side.

"Are you alright?" he questioned and she nodded.

"I'll be fine, I'm just sore," she told him, burying her face in his neck and he silently cursed that once again, he hadn't protected her the way he should have.


	6. Chapter 6

**Authors Note: Last chapter here guys, thanks to; Runner043, Caitlin Tierney, CSI4lyfNCIS13, afrozenheart412 and dannymesserforever11 for their reviews. **

Chapter 6

They should have been in Washington before nightfall but they'd taken some extra detours to avoid the main roads and any large towns or cities. It was taking them longer but they'd all felt it was the safer option, they'd be able to find the settlement first thing in the morning. At least this way they'd have the day to settle in, if the place wasn't too good to be true. The cars were pulled off the road and hidden from view, a small fire giving them light and heat without drawing attention to them and alerting anyone who passed by to their presence. It had been a subdued atmosphere among the group since they'd left the gas station. Don had barely let go of Jess for a few hours, not until they stopped to eat and even after that he'd stayed close to her. Adam was obviously shook up from the experience and Stella, despite the unfazed facade, was sticking closer to Mac than she usually would.

They'd all been quiet when they'd stopped again, this time for the night. They'd eaten with very little being said and unsurprisingly Jess had been the first to fall asleep. Lindsay had seen her, holding onto her side where she'd been stabbed and she knew she'd taken painkillers for it, the fight at the gas station had obviously taken it out of her still healing body. What had been surprising though was that Don hadn't immediately followed her; he'd hung around the fire until after Adam, Sid and Hawkes had turned in for the night and then gone to curl up with Jess. Lindsay and Danny had decided to sleep shortly after that and Stella had opted to stay up with Mac who was taking first watch, after the events of the day they felt a 'watch' was necessary.

Lindsay had been in and out of sleep all night, all the other times though Danny had been next to her and she'd settled herself back into sleep. He wasn't there this time though and since she knew he'd had last watch of the night she sat up and looked over to the small fire. He was sat there, staring at the flames as though they could somehow give him the answers to all his questions. She shimmied out of her sleeping bag, the movement and the noise immediately gaining his attention and he offered her a small smile as she walked over to sit with him.

"You should be sleeping," he stated and she shrugged.

"Haven't been able to sleep properly all night," she told him. As usual when they had a close call she spent the night worrying about it and as a result it crept into her dreams. He knew that though, he was the one she talked to about the nightmares, the one that rationalised them away, at least partly, if only words were all it took to make bad dreams stop.

"Everyone's fine," he reminded her, already trying to fight her dreams away for her.

"I know, we've had too many close calls in the last couple of months though. Jess is still recovering from her last one and now this," Lindsay said with a glance at the woman in question. "You know, I never thought I'd think of being a woman as a disadvantage but we would have had far less trouble if we were all men, half the people that have come after us would simply have left well enough alone."

"You telling me you want to be a man?" Danny questioned, humour lacing his tone and she laughed softly and shook her head.

"God no, things aren't that bad," she replied still laughing. "It would just be nice if things could be easy for once."

"You'd be bored with easy," Danny commented and she smiled as she dropped her head to his shoulder, watching the fire.

"I don't mean all the time, just once in a while," she told him. "And I would put up with bored if it meant keeping everyone safe."

They sat there quietly, not aware of how much time had passed until Lindsay realised the sun was coming up and as though it was an alarm clock, Mac woke up. At least it had been an uneventful night, if not a restful one, hopefully today they'd find that putting all their hopes on the broadcast from Washington had not been a bad idea.

* * *

It was quiet in the car, they'd reached the place the radio broadcast told them to go more or less. Mac looked around him as he drove the car along the street, looking for any sign of the settlement that was supposed to be here. Then he saw it, soldiers, several of them at some kind of makeshift check point gesturing at him to stop the car. He did so, glancing in his rear view mirror to see the other car doing the same, slowing to a stop behind him.

"Step out of the vehicles please," one of the soldiers ordered his grip on his weapon tight. Some of the other soldiers had their weapons aimed at the cars; obviously they'd had some bad experiences with people passing through here.

Mac opened his door and stepped out, gesturing for the others to do the same. Don and the others had gotten out of the back car, all of them looking slightly nervous.

"Guns," another of the soldiers yelled having spotted that most of the people getting out of the cars were armed.

"We're cops," Mac explained quickly. "My badge is in my pocket."

"Show me," the soldier in front of him ordered, clearly the man in charge here. Mac nodded and slowly reached into his pocket, noticing the soldiers tighten their grips on their weapons, fingers moving on the triggers. He pulled out his badge, his ID, even after all these months none of them had lost or left them behind, their previous jobs were still very much a part of who they were. The soldier took them, looking at them carefully before handing them back and gesturing to the rest of them. "They all cops too?"

"The majority," Mac replied with a nod and the soldier ordered his men to stand down.

"We came here because of the broadcast," Stella stated, rounding the car to stand by Mac's side.

The soldier nodded. "You'll all need to relinquish your weapons; if everything checks out they _may_ be returned to you."

Mac didn't like it, their weapons were their defence but looking around him, their few guns would do them only so much good here anyway and there were likely a lot more soldiers where they were going. He gave his team the go ahead, all of them handing over their weapons along with their names, reluctantly. Several soldiers descended on their cars, searching them thoroughly.

"This is Lieutenant Jackson, he'll escort you to the check in point," the soldier told him, gesturing to a man stood to his left. "You'll all have to be checked out before you're allowed into the settlement; it'll take a couple of hours. Everything will be explained to you there. Please get back into your vehicles and follow the lieutenant."

Everyone did as they were told, Jackson got into one of the military vehicles that were parked nearby and Mac followed it, once again checking the rear view mirror to ensure the other car was with him. It was a ten minute drive to the check in point, they passed through another much bigger check point and the car was silent as they came to stop outside a large building. There were soldiers everywhere now, patrolling and guarding and Mac wondered what kind of trouble they'd faced for them to need so much protection.

They were led inside where a man in a suit was waiting for them along with more armed guards. The man in the suit at the very least looked friendly and pleased to see them. "I'm Andrew; I'll be guiding you through the check in procedure. We're very glad to have you here, we don't get anywhere near the amount of newcomers we would like. I'm told you're police officers?"

"Detectives Flack and Angell, NYPD, Homicide," Mac gestured to the two people in question. "I'm Detective Taylor, head of the New York crime lab," he introduced himself. "The rest are my team."

"Well then we're even more excited to have you here, we have very few cops, even fewer detectives here and I don't think we currently have any forensic scientists here so I'm sure we'll have no problems finding a place here for all of you," Andrew stated. "We'll take detailed employment histories from all of you later and we'll answer any questions you might have once we have the preliminaries taken care of."

"Alright," Mac stated, still wary of the situation.

"We're going to have to do a strip search of each of you I'm afraid, make sure you're not carrying anything you shouldn't be. I know it's unpleasant but it's a problem we've encountered more than once, I'm sure as law enforcement officers you understand the need for this," Andrew explained and Mac nodded. He did understand, that didn't mean he had to like it. "After the search you'll be given a full medical, again I'm sure that's something you're familiar with. For now can I ask you ladies to go with Lauren here," he said gesturing to the blonde woman that had just arrived.

Stella looked to Mac who nodded once again and she left with the woman, Lindsay and Jessica following close behind. Neither Don nor Danny looked happy about being separated from them and Mac could sympathise with them.

"Don't worry, they're perfectly safe here," Andrew said having picked up on the tension. "If you could all follow me this way, we'll get this started."

* * *

The strip search had been unpleasant but it had been over quickly. They got dressed again and were taken through to another room, left to sit on what looked like hospital beds to wait for a doctor. Sarah, as she introduced herself, looked like she was barely out of medical school. She seemed to know what she was doing though, she ran through the usual work up with them all, making notes as she went. There'd been some concern about the wound in Jess's side but Sarah seemed happy that it was healing fine and impressed that Hawkes had been able to do such a good job with what little they had.

"You're a little young aren't you?" Stella said and the woman smiled and nodded.

"We don't have a lot of doctors here," she explained. "Most of the ones we do have work at the hospital full time. You're lucky you found this place though, it's a nice settlement, we have electricity, water, food, medical care, even a school. We're rebuilding, it's slow but it's better than what's outside of this place."

"No kidding," Jess agreed, it was what was out there that had spurred the decision to come here and leave the place they'd all called home.

"How long have you been here?" Lindsay questioned and the woman smiled.

"A little over a month, I lived in LA when the virus happened. I lost everyone close to me and I ended up tagging on to a group of survivors there. Things got pretty nasty though and some of us decided to leave, that maybe we'd be safer away from the cities. We were travelling for weeks and we were getting desperate before we ran into a family that were on the road. They told us about this place and we didn't even need to give it a second thought, we came straight here," Sarah explained.

"It must have been a relief to find somewhere safe," Stella stated.

"It was, I'm sure the three of you know how much more dangerous it is to be a woman out there now, there's not as many of us left as the men," she replied shaking her head. "It's like the survivors turned into animals but that's why we're so cautious here, we don't know who we're letting in."

The computer in the room beeped and she walked over to it smiling as she clicked some buttons on the keyboard. "Your medical records," she told them. "They'll have all your records now; they likely know almost everything they need to know about you."

"I don't know whether to be comforted or worried," Lindsay laughed.

"Don't worry, unless you have a criminal record they won't be all that concerned, and I heard you were all cops and I'm pretty sure you can't get a career in law enforcement if you have a criminal history," Sarah said thoughtfully.

"Out of curiosity, what do they do with people who do have a criminal record?" Jess asked, still very much the cop she'd always been. "Turn them away?"

"No," Sarah answered. "It depends on what you did, minor offences that you did your time for they'll just let go but same as before, we have access to all the national databases here, medical, criminal, your DNA and fingerprint databases, we still have all of it, so even though they get a fresh start here they're still in the system. For the more serious offences, you're basically put back on probation; you have to prove you're not going to be a problem here. And anyone that comes through here that is supposed to be in jail is put right back in one."

"Sounds like you have all the bases covered," Lindsay said.

"Not all of them, but we're learning," Sarah stated as she took off the latex gloves she'd been wearing. "We're done, we should have the results of your blood tests in the next couple of days but everything else checks out and I wasn't flagged to hold you when I got your records so you can go. Lauren is waiting outside for you."

* * *

"I just don't like being poked and prodded, it's a personal preference," Danny argued as they were finally allowed to leave. He'd been unhappy from the moment he'd been separated from Lindsay in an unfamiliar place that they knew nothing about. Don could understand that, he really could but even he was tempted to hit the former CSI. "And why do they need to run blood tests if they already have my medical records, which, by the way, I did not consent to them seeing."

"Danny, I swear, if you don't stop complaining, I'll hit you," Don stated as Andrew led them away from the room they'd been in for the last hour for their medical exam.

"He's just worried about Lindsay," Adam cut in. "I'm sure he'll be fine once we see the others."

"Which should be soon, they're probably finishing up their medical exams as well," Andrew cut in patiently. "There is really nothing to be concerned about, your friends are in good hands, they're perfectly safe."

"I'm sure that's the case but we'll all feel better when we see them," Mac replied casting a look back at Danny that told him to calm down. They were led into what looked like a briefing room; a large screen was set up at one side, the men taking seats around the table in the middle. It was only minutes later that the door opened again and the women walked in looking fine and in one piece.

Don stood up as Jess walked over and she gave him a smile as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her head. The upside of the medicals was that he knew the wound in Jess' side would have been seen to, not that he didn't trust Hawkes, the man had worked a miracle but they'd been in an apartment with very few supplies then. Here it seemed that they had access to all the medical care they needed, if there was a problem with Jess it could be taken care of.

They all took their seats again, Danny seeming far more settled now that Lindsay was sitting next to him. They sat through a presentation about the community, the parts people played, what would be expected of them, the new laws that had been created for this place. It was impressive what they'd managed to do here, they had a functioning city, with everyone playing their parts to keep it that way.

"We have apartments set up for all of you, your things have already been taken there," Andrew explained once the presentation was over. "We'd also like you to continue here what you did before the virus. Our police force currently only consists of uniformed officers, a few inexperienced detectives and the captain of Vice from Chicago PD. We have no forensic scientists so Detective Taylor we'd like you to start up a department here, we're already working on getting you the space. The rest of you will work under him in the same positions you were before expect for Detectives Flack and Angell, you'll be working under Captain Cross, you'll mostly work homicides but we don't get as many of them here as I'm sure you did in New York, so you will work other crimes as well. It may surprise you but despite our precautions and everything at stake people still commit all the same crimes they used to."

It wasn't all that surprising really, people were people and in the months since the virus they'd seen the best and worst of that.

"Does anyone have any questions?"

"What's the population here?" Mac asked.

"Including the military personal, we have just over four thousand people living here now, we've gathered quite a varied community here," Andrew stated proudly. "And our numbers are still growing."

"Do we get our weapons back?" Stella questioned.

"Yes, your weapons will be returned to you when you leave here today."

There were more questions, they were in the room for another hour before they were escorted through the city to an apartment building that looked just like the one they'd left in New York. There were people on the streets, happily going about their lives, kids playing soccer; it was something none of them had seen in a long time. They were given curious looks as they stepped out of the cars, all of them given keys and an apartment number. All of their bags were in one apartment so they headed there first, it was Adam's apartment so he took off exploring while everyone found their things.

Don found his bag and waited for Jess to find hers, they'd both been given separate apartments and thinking back to before the virus they'd been living separately, it seemed like so long ago now. He stopped outside his apartment, Jess was looking at the key in her hands and the door down the hall that was supposed to be hers.

"Do we need one apartment or two?" Don finally asked and Jess looked up at him, biting her lip for a moment.

"I'd prefer one," she admitted and he smiled and wrapped an arm around her, relieved.

"I was hoping you'd say that," he said as he kissed her, ignoring Danny's 'get a room' comment as he passed by with Lindsay. He finally let go of her, unlocking the door and walking into the apartment, dropping his bag on the couch and looking around. It was fully furnished with all the necessities, there was even a TV and Don wondered over and switched it on, just for the kick of watching it actually switch on. There was a rerun of an old football game on and he marvelled at the idea that he could sit and watch TV if he wanted to.

"Is it bad that that seems strange?" Jess questioned, looking at the screen, her head cocked to one side. "I'm going to switch the lights on."

Don laughed as she walked over and flicked the switch, the lights above them coming on and Jess grinned before she switched them off again. "We can eat proper food now, large portions of properly cooked food."

"I guess we're set then," Jess smiled as she walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him and Don held her tightly. They had a home, he hoped it would feel more like it eventually but they'd just got there so he'd give that feeling some time. They had electricity, they had food and water, they had medical care when they needed it. They could go out, day or night and not have to worry about being attacked, at least not as much. They got to be cops again, despite everything that had happened, they were all still cops at heart and the job was as important to them now as it had been before, it was as much a part of them.

It felt both like going back and forward at the same time, this was a fresh start for them all though, a chance for a new life and he fully intended to make the best of it.

**Authors Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, both on here and livejournal. You're all amazing. **


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